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Wick volunteers support local community during coronavirus lockdown


By Jean Gunn

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Some of the hot meals that were prepared by PPP volunteers last week and delivered to elderly local people.
Some of the hot meals that were prepared by PPP volunteers last week and delivered to elderly local people.

A band of over 30 volunteers are providing help in and around Wick during the coronavirus crisis thanks to Pulteneytown People's Project (PPP).

Chief executive officer Katrina MacNab said:"We have got 33 volunteers already set up."

PPP, which usually provides a variety of services and support for local people of all ages at the Pulteney Centre in Wick, has built up a list of names requiring help from those that took part in some of the group's regular activities, such as the lunch club and hobby groups.

Referrals have also been made from the new Highland Council Covid-19 helpline.

"Some people want a daily check, some just want a phone call twice a week," Mrs MacNab said.

"A few ladies have dogs and are struggling to get them walked, some need medication picking up, while others might need dustbins put out. We are just basically helping people in any way we can."

She explained that many elderly people could only access their pensions through the bank so the PPP team had set up a system where they invoice them for any food shopping they need so payments can be made at a later date.

The Pulteney Centre in Wick.
The Pulteney Centre in Wick.

Grant funding is being sourced towards supplying people with a couple of hot meals each week.

Some local elderly folk are now finding – due to other family members isolating for different reasons, the cessation of the PPP lunch club or being no longer able to go to the town's Laurandy Centre – that they do not have regular access to hot meals.

Mrs MacNab said they planned to use the kitchen in Telford's Café within the Pulteney Centre to prepare the food.

"We have the means to run it in our own kitchen and make 100 meals a day," she pointed out.

Last week the volunteers were able to dispense around 30 hot meals thanks to donations from Wetherspoon, which supplied surplus ingredients prior to closing that were used to make a sausage casserole, while Henrietta's chip shop provided 25 fish suppers before it was forced to shut.

The volunteers were all given an induction pack before starting and are well briefed on the present health and safety guidelines. A WhatsApp group has been set up so that individuals can give availability for the calls required each day.

"We have quite a slick system in place," Mrs MacNab said.

The project is also going to set up a closed Facebook group for parents of young children - aged between two and eight years old – where help will be given with activities they can do.

"Some people are struggling – we are helping by providing learning through play and giving parents ideals of what they can do," Mrs MacNab said.

Among the activities suggested is the setting up of a small shop at home to assist children with simple arithmetic.

This interactive group, which parents will need to request to join, should be up and running next week.

While the usual support groups run at the centre are suspended, Carleen Rosie, who helps those with drug and alcohol issues, will keep in touch with people struggling to cope at this time through phone calls or emails.

Leaflets outlining the services PPP is offering during the coronavirus crisis are being circulated throughout the town.

The group continues to provide its daily Care at Home support for around 60 elderly people living in the community.


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